Footnotes

Provenance: Albert Casimir (1732-1822), 6th son of Elector Frederick August II of Saxony, created Duke of Teschen on his marriage in 1766 to Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1742-1798), 4th daughter of Emperor Franz I and Empress Maria Theresa and sister to Marie Antoinette.Their nephew and adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria (1771-1847), field marshal of the Empire, 3rd son of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, who married in 1815 Princess Henrietta Alexandrine of Nassau-Weilburg.Their son Archduke Albrecht of Austria (1817-1895), Duke of Teschen, who married in 1844, Princess Hildegard Louise, daughter of Ludwig I King of Bavaria.Their nephew and adopted son Frederick (1856-1936), Duke of Teschen, supreme commander of the Austro-Hungarian forces in the Great War, who married in 1878 Isabella Hedwig (1856-1931) daughter of the 11th Duke of Croy.Their son Albrecht (1897-1955), his morganatic marriage resulting in the dispersal of the Teschen inheritance.Sold Galerie Fischer, Luzern, 6th May 1947: Tafelsilber aus einem fürstlichen Hause, Arbeiten des Hof goldschmiedes I. J. Wurth, um 1780.Private European collector, purchased from the Private Collection of Count Martignone.

Archduchess Maria Christina is said to have been Empress Maria Theresa's favourite daughter. She shared her birthday with her mother and was affectionately known as 'Mimi.' Unlike her twelve siblings, she was allowed to choose her own husband; her sister Maria Antoinetta was married off to King Louis XVI of France. Prince Albert Casimir, son of Frederick Augustus II (elector of Saxony and King of Poland) and a cousin of Maria Theresa, was not an obvious choice for Maria Christina as he was sixth in line to an impoverished title. However, the Empress was fond of her cousin Albert and assisted with his suit against the wishes of Emperor Franz I. Soon after Franz' death, the engagement was announced. It is interesting to note the number of mourning dresses in the painting by Johann Karl Auerbach of the couple's engagement ball.

Albert was given the Duchy of Teschen and the vast dowry of four million guilders as well as a commitment from the Empress to subsidise the newlyweds' household. He was also appointed Governor of Hungary which came with a significant stipend. The couple immediately began the accumulation of pictures, drawings, porcelain and objects that would become the core of the Albertina Museum, housed in their palace in Vienna.

When Maria Theresa died, in 1780, the couple were sent by Emperor Josef II to take up their posts as governors of The Netherlands. Here they created their dream palace: Schönenberg, now called Laeken, still seat of the Belgian Royal family. They were forced to flee from Napoleon in 1793 and, five years later, Mimi died of typhus. The Duke spent the next twenty-four years consolidating his art collection. His heirs were left with sufficient wealth to ensure that the silver service by Würth largely stayed within the family until the middle of the 20th century, despite the recall of silver by the Austrian mint in 1810 to fund the Napoleonic wars.

Maria Christina's dowry had included a Viennese silver service in a restrained and simplified Rococo style, mostly created by Franz Casper Würth in 1748, the short period of engagement meant that there had not been time to order a new suite. However, it was always the Empress's intention to give the couple a suitably grand service. It was not surprising that Würth's son, Ignatz Josef, was given the commission; they had already built a reputation that put them in the same rank as the great Germain dynasty in Paris.

The extent of the service is not absolutely clear though the weight has been estimated at 680kg. Braun's survey, in 1910, listed 16 tureens, 8 ewers, 16 covered dishes, 12 candelabra, 32 candlesticks, 39 serving dishes, 15 salts and 240 dinner plates. As astonishing as this list is, it is not complete; he counted only two of this type of large oval tureen (see image b) and yet there were eight in the Fischer sale of 1947.

The tureens in the service were designed for Service à la Française, where food was placed on the table for dinners rather than being served in the sequential manner of Service à la Russe. There was a prescribed shape of tureen or serving dish for each stew or sauce; the finial providing a further clue to the contents of the tureen, varying from vegetables to crustacea.

The large oval tureens would have been the first part of the service to be completed. Their rôle was not merely to serve food but to serve as sculptural decoration on the table when guests sat down. Food was brought later in the fitted liners, so there was no need for elaborate centrepieces. The presence of the tureen is enormous. The exquisitely complex blend of detail ranges from the realistic sea creature finial on the cover, through the bold fluting and gadrooning interrupted by the acanthus guilloche band, to the powerful dolphin feet; all presented on a simple stand incorporating laurel to reflect a victor's crown.

Bonhams are indebited to the research and assistance of Wolfram Koeppe, Marina Kellen French Curator at the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

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